Houston DWI Lawyer | DWI Defense in Houston, TX

I have run into some confusion regarding the time line for submitting a pretrial diversion packet at the Harris County Courthouse.  Some courts and misdemeanor prosecutors seem to think that there is a forty (40) day time period where Carl Hobbs, the chief of the misdemeanor division, will consider a person for a pretrial diversion.  I do not know where this rumor started, but it has gained some steam lately.  Perhaps, it is because Mr. Hobbs had a well known rule when he ran the Welfare Fraud division that  a person must accept his plea offer of reducing the case to a misdemeanor before 40 days after his initial setting.  I had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Hobbs about this issue and he made it clear that this rule does not apply to pretrial diversions.  It is not to say that he prefers them to be presented within the 40 day window, but presenting it after that time frame will not preclude a person from getting one granted.

Typically, a pretrial diversion is granted to a young person that is a first offender, that has a scholarship or is still in school, thus losing something of value to them.  Also, pretrial diversions may be granted to someone that will lose their job with any type of community supervision.  I have found that since Pat Lykos became the District Attorney of Harris County, Texas they have been granted with more frequency than in years past.

If you are unsure whether you qualify for a pretrial diversion You should discuss this option with your attorney.  While they may not discuss it at your initial meeting it would be negligible of the attorney not to explore it before entering any type of probation since it allows your record to be expunged in the future.

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After more than twenty years the Welfare Fraud division of the Harris County District Attorney's Office (HCDAO) will have a new chief.  Carl Hobbs, chief of the division, one of the longest tenured Harris County prosecutors, is moving to become head of the misdemeanor division.  I hope Mr. Hobbs continues the fantastic work Kate Dolan did while she was the chief of the misdemeanor.  More importantly, I hope that he keeps an open-mind toward pretrial diversions.  For the past two years, the HCDAO has been generous in dispensing these type of agreements.  My concern is that Mr. Hobbs will not be as charitable since he never granted one while chief of the Welfare division.  I am hoping for the best.

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I have mentioned before that the Harris County District Attorney's Office is changing drastically next year.  Administratively, many changes have already been made.  Murray Newman has commented about the changes in his blog.  Moreover, fellow Houston Criminal Attorney, Mark Bennett, posted the new flow chart in the comments section.  Many more changes are rumored to be coming early next year.  I hope that one of the newest changes that need to be made are how the Welfare Fraud division handles their cases.  Carl Hobbs, one of the most tenured prosecutors at the DA's office, has been the head of  this division since I have been a lawyer.  While I enjoy Carl as a person I dislike how his policies have not shifted in years.  During these hard financial times the DA's office needs to re-evaluate if further crippling defendants is just.  Typically, the person charged with welfare fraud is as follows:  single mom, three to four children, limited education, and struggling financially for years.  The struggling mother is receiving welfare and finds a part time job for a while that assists her with paying the bills, but does not get her head above water.  Later, when she reports to the welfare office she fails to report that she has found a new job.  Finally, a random investigation by the welfare office discovers her omission and charges are filed.

While I do not condone what the single mother does, other options should be available to her.  For example, the welfare fraud division has a steadfast rule that they will only offer felony deferred adjudication or a misdemeanor time served offer if the poor mother pays back the funds she was over paid, within forty days.  The welfare fraud division never considers a dismissal of the charges or a misdemeanor deferred adjudication if the money is paid back sooner.  They need to see that justice would be better served if they offered some other options.  They should have a standard policy of contacting the potential defendant to inform them that they have thirty days to pay back the money before criminal charges are filed.  If charges are filed they should give them the opportunity to get a misdemeanor deferred adjudication.  The welfare fraud division needs to see that the children are the ones being hurt by having their mother receive a conviction for theft or being on deferred adjudication for a felony.  The theft conviction would eliminate a lot of job opportunities for her.  Moreover, a felony deferred adjudication is not a conviction, but that means that for a minimum of two years she would be on probation, and must wait longer before she is eligible for a motion for non disclosure.

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